How retailer polls customers
Macy's on State Street scored 78 of a possible 100 in a shopper survey released exclusively to the Sun-Times, putting it in the top 10 stores in customer satisfaction in Macy's North division. Macy's goal is to score 80.
The survey was sent at random to shoppers who had used a store credit card to buy merchandise from last spring through mid-December.
The Macy's North division, encompassing the 61 former Marshall Field's stores in eight states, sends about 250 of the random surveys each day, and had received 1,500 survey responses as of Dec. 16.
Though the Field's store wasn't transformed into Macy's until Sept. 9, the scores did not drop after the transition, said Amy Hanson, vice chairwoman of administration at Macy's North in Minneapolis, where she oversees the Field's regional division's finances and operations.
The survey asked customers to rate the store on their shopping experience; whether the store was "clean, neat and easy to shop," and whether salespeople were courteous and respectful. Each factor is rated on a scale from "disappointing" (zero) to "satisfactory" (50) to "very good" (75) to "outstanding" (100).
The Macy's customer survey program asks shoppers to provide feedback in two ways: the random survey, and via Web sites for Macy's [Macys.com/tellus] and Federated [fds.com, under the heading "Tell us what you think"]. Macy's North received more than 4,800 responses online through mid-December.
Each sales receipt includes the URL of Macy's Web site, and salespeople are supposed to circle it, sign the receipt, and ask shoppers to share their comments. Store managers are expected to respond to Web postings within 72 hours.
Meanwhile, Macy's and its owner, Federated Department Stores of Cincinnati, continue to use an independent company to conduct focus groups to get shoppers' opinions face-to-face, Macy's spokeswoman Jennifer McNamara said. Macy's held a focus group after the Sept. 9 name change, and will hold another early this year.